The Public Sector Magazine Summer 2018

Public Sector Magazine
Empowering Youth
Working with over 55,000 young people aged between 10 and 18 each year through volunteer-led Clubs and staff-led Youth
Projects, Foróige is Ireland’s leading youth organisation..
Established over 60 years ago in 1952 by a group of vocational
school teachers who saw the need for practical education
outside of the classroom, the organisation enables young
people to involve themselves consciously and actively in their
development and in the development of society.
Foróige was formally known as Macra na Tuaithe, the youth
branch of Macra na Feirme. However, in 1981, the organisation
changed its name to Foróige to demonstrate its move from a
rural based organisation to one that works with young people
with a wide variety of needs in both rural and urban settings
across Ireland.
Operating in 26 counties, the organisation has more than
600 clubs and 150 youth projects, 6,500 volunteers and 400
employees.
Sean Campbell, CEO of Foróige says one in ten young
people in the country is involved with the organisation.
“And the exciting thing is we are stronger now than we
have ever been and have more understanding of what we are
doing and proof that what we are doing works. We have spent
a lot of time over the last number of years developing impactful
programmes and working with academia to find out what
works with young people and how it works,” he says.
One of the biggest attractions of Foróige is the skills youths
gather and the sense of belonging they gain.
“Adolescents really want that sense of belonging,
particularly as they move into adult life. That sense of belonging
to something apart from their family is extremely important,”
he says.
“Youth work can provide young people with a set of skills that
they can’t easily get in formal education,” explains Mr Campbell.
22 the Public Sector Magazine